Are Mice Allergic to Peppermint?

All rodents, but especially mice, are allergic to oil of peppermint. Mice actually avoid any property where they can even just smell peppermint in the air.

All it takes is a few drops from oil of peppermint for a mouse to stay away from an area. Many people put the peppermint drops on cotton and then leave the cotton in a hole where mice frequent. It’s important to note that only oil of peppermint has the strongest repelling effect on mice, and not peppermint extract. Peppermint oil is located in health food stores as opposed to the grocery store where peppermint extract is often found.

The most effective way to use peppermint-soaked cotton and use the allergy against mice is to find areas that mice may try to squeeze through. This includes gaps in the wall behind the dryer, or areas where the door isn’t perfectly sealed against the wall. Another strategy includes planting peppermint plants in a garden. This is a good strategy for using the allergy against mice and other rodents in order to keep them from chewing up other plants that they might find tastier but that gardeners would prefer to preserve. This is a strategy that’s often favored because it creates a strong scent that travels far on the air.